Stella Artois

Brewed by InBev Belgium
Style: Pale Lager
Leuven, Belgium

On tap, black angus. Havn’t had this in a long time, so I figured what the hell. Actually quite good. The color is a mild yellow, very nice white head with a lace that went all the way down. Very clean flavor, easy to drink, finished the first one in a matter of minutes. No strong aftertaste, much better than any of the budmillercoors offerings. Very nice.

Purchased 6 pack of 12 oz bottles at Schmidt’s Exxon in Tysons Corner. Pours a pale yellow, with a slight greenish tone with a very large, loosely packed head. The head recedes quickly though. Aroma is belgian yeast, which is a little strange for a lager. My nose also detects coriander, crisp european hops and a tad of clove. Taste is a thinner than what the aroma suggests, very much like most lagers. Though it is clean and crisp and doesn’t suffer from cheap ingredients, adjuncts and the like, that its American cousins do. The style percentage of 88.8 says its all. This is a good lager.

This one poured with the expected pale yellow color. The head was relatively long lasting for a lager of this type. It had a straightforward moderate malt taste with a clean, almost biting hop profile. It met the average to meager expectations I had for it as the ultimate "regular" lawn mowing beer.

Bottle. Disapointing in almost every respect: short-lived and unappealing head, and one-dimensional and almost acidic in flavour and on the palate Lacks character.

Can from the LCBO. Wow, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to rate this! Not much I can write about this beer that hasn’t been said by 1606 people before me, so I’ll simply say that while I avoid the green bottles like the plague, I actually consider this to be a perfectly acceptable mainstream lager when I have it on tap or from a can, so my rating reflects those versions. When it’s fresh, it’s actually a very subtle, elegant beer despite it’s ubiquitousness. Not something to drink every day to be sure, but when I’m in a restaurant where it’s on tap alongside Blue and Bud Light, I’m not adverse to having a glass of Stella with my meal.

I don’t know why this beer is so popular. Belgium has the best beers in the world overall. This is not one of them. It’s basically a Belgian Budweiser, although certainly better than that. It’s a decent beer that’s better for the summer than for the winter. Fans of pilsners will love this one. I’m a stout fan so it’s just not my style. Not a bad beer, but not great either. It’s simply overrated.

pours a clear yellow with a lot of stark white, rapidly dissipating head. Odor of straw and grasses, with just a dash of citrus hops. The taste is predominantly bitter, which ends with a bit of a grassy aftertaste. A nice change from the general macros, but on its own, not a good belgium beer.

This beer has its place, but it’s not my style. Nothing to special here, a beer that falls right in line with other macro light beers.